'Strategic Threat' To Israel - Progressives Lose Fear Of Speaking Out On Palestine

Two weeks ago the Zionist lobby targeted civil rights activist Angela Davis for her support of the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement (BDS). Following lobby pressure the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama canceled its annual gala at which Davis was to receive a prestigious human rights award. This created a huge backlash. The city council of Birmingham unanimously adopted a resolution "recognizing the life work of Angela Davis". The Institute's chair, vice-chair and secretary had to resign from the board.

Following that scandal the gates of hell opened and, on Sunday, the New York Times published a column that criticized the Apartheid policy of the Zionist entity in the Middle East.

Written by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights lawyer, author of The New Jim Crow, and now a regular NYT columnist, the piece reaches back to Martin Luther King. It compares MLK's courageous early opposition to the Vietnam War to today's reluctance of people who are 'progressives except for Palestine' to oppose the policies of the so called Jewish State:

It was a lonely, moral stance. And it cost him. But it set an example of what is required of us if we are to honor our deepest values in times of crisis, even when silence would better serve our personal interests or the communities and causes we hold most dear. It’s what I think about when I go over the excuses and rationalizations that have kept me largely silent on one of the great moral challenges of our time: the crisis in Israel-Palestine.

Alexander appeals to those who support civil rights to speak out against the Zionist Apartheid policies:

We must not tolerate Israel’s refusal even to discuss the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, as prescribed by United Nations resolutions, and we ought to question the U.S. government funds that have supported multiple hostilities and thousands of civilian casualties in Gaza, as well as the $38 billion the U.S. government has pledged in military support to Israel.

And finally, we must, with as much courage and conviction as we can muster, speak out against the system of legal discrimination that exists inside Israel, a system complete with, according to Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, more than 50 laws that discriminate against Palestinians — such as the new nation-state law that says explicitly that only Jewish Israelis have the right of self-determination in Israel, ignoring the rights of the Arab minority that makes up 21 percent of the population.

The column goes on to describe how the movement for the rights of Palestinians is growing, and how those who support it come under pressure. The well written piece closes with a promise to follow up on the issue:

I cannot say for certain that King would applaud Birmingham for its zealous defense of Angela Davis’s solidarity with Palestinian people. But I do. In this new year, I aim to speak with greater courage and conviction about injustices beyond our borders, particularly those that are funded by our government, and stand in solidarity with struggles for democracy and freedom. My conscience leaves me no other choice.

The Zionist lobby will surely try to press the New York Times, which usually advances absurdly pro-Zionist positions, to fire Michelle Alexander or to at least censor what she writes. If neither happens the lobby will have a big problem.

The column, and that fact that it was published by the New York Times, changes the Overton window on Palestine. Positions that were earlier condemned or smeared as anti-semitic, will now become discussable.

But the real problem for the Zionist lobby is even larger. If the civil rights movement follows Davis and Alexander and actively supports pro-Palestinian positions, it will influence the political position of the Democratic party and the general position of the United States towards Israel. Democratic candidates that are 'progressives except for Palestine' or like Kamala Harris more AIPAC than J Street, will become unelectable. Sure, it will take some years to take effect. But it's a sea change.

David M. Friedman @USAmbIsrael - 17:42 utc - 20 Jan 2019Michelle Alexander has it all wrong in today’s @NYT. If MLK were alive today I think he would be very proud of his robust support for the State of Israel. An Arab in the ME who is gay, a woman, a Christian, or seeking education & self-improvement can’t do better than living in Israel

Friedman's predecessor as ambassador, now the Israeli deputy minister in charge of public diplomacy, responded with a more brutal position:

Michael Oren @DrMichaelOren - 18:16 utc - 20 Jan 2019Replying to @USAmbIsrael @NYTAmbassador Friedman is right but Israel has to take serious steps to defend itself. By equating support for Israel with support for the Vietnam War and opposition to MLK, Alexander dangerously delegitimizates us. It’s a strategic threat and Israel must treat it as such.

Oren is in charge of the Israeli lobby organizations revealed in the four part movie The Lobby USA:

To get unprecedented access to the Israel lobby’s inner workings, undercover reporter “Tony” posed as a pro-Israel volunteer in Washington.

The resulting film exposes the efforts of Israel and its lobbyists to spy on, smear and intimidate US citizens who support Palestinian human rights, especially BDS – the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

It shows that Israel’s semi-covert black-ops government agency, the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, is operating this effort in collusion with an extensive network of US-based organizations.

That Oren calls Alexander a 'strategic threat' means that she must be destroyed. Oren will use all his might and secret organizations to defeat the 'threat'. The Zionists will surely pull out the big guns against her. They will smear, intimidate and harass Alexander. The will threaten the NYT with 'consequences'.

thanks b... it feels like a boxing match with mayweather and someone who is going to lose!... i think alexander will get taken down.. they can't have the nyt running with articles like alexanders and they can't have folks like alexander talking directly to this issue as she does.. everyone 'vil remain silent' and there will be no discussion of the huge elephant in the usa room! ya volt commadate! go bds!

The New York Times surprised us yesterday by running a long, front-page investigation into the Israeli army’s killing last June 1 of a 20-year-old Gazan health worker, Rouzan al-Najjar. Before we criticize, let’s state clearly that this article was inconceivable in the Times up until a year, or even 6 months ago. By contrast, when Israel killed four small boys who were playing soccer on the beach during its 2014 assault on Gaza, the paper swallowed the army’s dishonest explanation, without challenge, even though one of its own photographers had been an eyewitness to the killings.

This time, the Times came right out and said its inquiry showed that “. . . the shooting [of Rouzan al-Najjar] appears to have been reckless at best, and possibly a war crime, for which no one has yet been punished.” The paper waited until the 9th paragraph to say this, but better late than never.

This improved Times coverage is no accident. The paper understands that its reading public is growing steadily more informed about Israel/Palestine, partly due to alternative news sources like this site. Public comments sections that follow some Times reports show that readers will no longer accept one-sided pro-Israel coverage. "https://mondoweiss.net/2018/12/killing-paramedic-forward/

The NYT presumably brought that brilliant truthteller on board to try to burnish their hopelessly tarnished image. She was smart enough to give them more than they bargained for. She will pay though, I think.

It's not just the US where BDS is gaining mainstream support. Ireland could go even further soon and ban goods from the West Bank settlements. This week, the Dail (Irish lower house of parliament) is due to debate the Occupied Territories Bill which was passed by the Senate last year.

Make no mistake, the Israeli government is increasingly in an alignment with far-right Nazi and ultra-neoliberal forces just like South Africa in the 1980s, as it sees the left as a strategic threat, from political figures like Corbyn to dissidents like Abby Martin and Marc Lamont Hill. The affect of these people attacking Israel is also therefore a severe blow to capitalist and individualist ideology, which underpins the Liberal World Order and which targets all collectivity and calls for popular resistance as "anti-Semitic." The Apartheid secret service dealt with similar threats via assassination, including of foreign leaders such as Olof Palme. Today, activists are smeared instead and crushed by the financial power of Zionist donors, but who knows what methods the Israeli government might resort to when really losing control. It is at the front line of a system that cares less and less about the pretence of democracy, looping off the tip of the spear is the first test for a popular anti-capitalist movement that is needed to save humanity.

By particularising a blissfully universalist religious group, benificiaries of the French Revolution and democratic modernity, Zionism places itself in the vanguard of the anti-democratic and fascist capitalism of the WTO-NATO world system. It is the exemplar of modern identity politics that divide the oppressed and prevent them from attacking the 1% (see Susan George's Lugano Report, this is part of the oligarchic design).

Time is more than ripe to name the Zionism policy of the contemporary Israeli government as the crime against humanity that it is. Power addicted sociopaths all around the world already started decades ago to copy its cynic technology of creating mayhems.

Thus, it is not an issue of being pro-palestinian, but to stand up against this brazen Herrenmenschentum.

The systematic war crime is the use of "dum-dum" bullets every friday on the border fence around Gaza (D-D's split open on impact). This has been a war crime since the FIRST World War. This was because they maim brutally, or kill with no chance of survival. I probably still have a pamphlet from that period with the photographic evidence, jaws ripped off and faces (eyes and surrounding bone) only half left, or gaping holes etc.. There were NO medical "rebuilding" facilities at that time so the poor b***ers were left isolated in "special homes" until they died. (The use of Dum Dum bullets explains why there are so many Gazans with only one leg).

The fate meted out to those found with dum-dum bullets during WWI (by both sides) was to cleave the pallet so the person could not scream, strip them naked and throw them into the space between the trenches. Anybody could then shoot them.

The reason that they are still in use today is that there is no "accountability".
(Note that the Israelis are not the only ones using dum-dum bullets. Swiss police have used them as well as numerous other Police forces (including I think the US police )

The dam indeed will break. But it will happen simultaneously with the realization among American deep staters that unbridled support for maximilaist Israeli wishes are very much contrary to US interests. And I'm talking about US imperial interests. Once it's clear that Israel is a hindrance to US domination, you will see a lot more latitude given to pro Palestinian voices.

That said, I do strongly applauded anyone with the courage to stand up for Palestine today. In 20 years I suspect it will be the norm.

Fortunately for Alexander, all objective facts are on her and Palestine's side. The finely woven tapestry of false narratives is slowly being eaten by truth telling moths thanks to the hubris of the weavers and spreading use of Social Media as an alternative news source more rapidly verifiable than BigLie Media. Millions who viewed The Matrix 20 years ago (Yes, it's been that long) but forgot its message have had it rekindled thanks to the 2016 election and the resulting attempt to delegitimize Trump. The outing of government funded disinformation campaigns has become known to far more people in a much shorter amount of time than ever before, whereas such pioneering efforts like Operation Mockingbird remain mostly unknown. The fact that II sought to determine the effect of the Skripal narrative proves that the weavers are worried about the durability of their work. Graph: Media Belief by Age Group, although from 2016, IMO the trend lines likely continue downward.

"Will they win?" No. The majority of humanity condemn Zionists and their ism as do an ever rising number of US citizens. Those politicos whose minds are captured were first bought with many now quite close to the grave. And fewer people than ever agree with the narratives being pushed onto them, have taken the Red Pill and are looking for Truth.

As Tony Greenstein reports on his excellent anti-zionist blog, American Jews are reverting inexorably towards the liberal positions, on civil rights, that they traditionally held. Zionism is becoming increasingly unpopular amongst Jews- historically it never was very popular- and the treatment of Palestinians increasingly recognised as shameful, a succession of sordid crimes.
It is noteworthy that the Zionist lobby in the US is very powerful, very professionally staffed and has enormous financial muscle: it can do a lot of nasty things. But it can't raise much of a crowd: its a mile wide and an inch deep; very few people, apart from certifiably crazy Christian Fundamentalists, and student rentamobs can be counted upon to show their support for, inter alia such enormities as this:https://countercurrents.org/2019/01/22/cruelty-in-the-extreme/
Those who predict that Michelle Alexander will be fired might be right. But I doubt it. And if she is it will be the Times that suffers most. She is on the right side of history-Israel in its present form cannot long endure, which is one reason why its fascist politicians are acting so aggressively. They are running out of options. And when even the-ultra-zionist- NYTimes realises it they are in deep trouble.

Greenstein http://azvsas.blogspot.com/ makes the simple, but often forgotten point that most US Jews are 'liberal' or 'conservative'or, of course secular, in their religious affiliation. And in Israel where the Orthodox rule with increasing bigotry such people are not 'real' Jews, and are thus subject to discrimination.
As an indication he pointed out that when the egregious fascist Naftali Bennett visited Pittsburgh after the recent attack on Jewish worshippers there he refused to acknowledge that they met in a synagogue insisting that their meetings were at a place with Jewish associations.

"Or did the ol' coots just cock-up as paul suggested @6 by adding Michelle Alexander to their lineup without vetting her properly?"
That is very unlikely her book The New Jim Crow is very well regarded and her reputation is stellar, which is a lot more than can be said for most of the clapped out old neocons and third rate comics that they generally employ...

Any retraction, or admission of fault by Israel, is unimaginable. But tick-tock, time is running out. Israel is being hollowed out. The Israeli army is no longer fit for purpose. They failed against Gaza in 2014. The conscripts have all got their second passports, ready to go. Only the airforce is still a goer.

Nothing has changed. African Americans have always been given a chance to speak out against Israeli policies. Perhaps because they are deemed less of a threat to Israel whose base is the white Christian Right who will discount any POV from liberals and minorities .

If you look at the history of Zionism they dont mind criticism coming from those they dont see as a threat. It gives them a forum to counter such criticism and resort to calling out those who do as anti-semitic.

Perhaps such criticism will be used to get support for Trump appointing an anti-zionist ambassador and pushing through legislation making POV deemed anti-semitic defined as hate speech, etc.

@ 26 bevin.. that really clarifies what is going on in israel and not fully appreciated outside of israel, yet.. the country has become very extreme right wing fundamentalist.. this faction is in the ascendancy.. haftali bennett is a good example of it... ps - i hope you are right and michelle alexander stays on at the nyt... most folks just treat the nyt as a propaganda outlet, but her presence might help to change it.. i doubt it, but lets be positive!

@ B who says"The column, and that fact that it was published by the New York Times, changes the Overton window on Palestine. Positions that were earlier condemned or smeared as anti-semitic, will now become discussable."

It could be nothing more that the 'Release Valve" described by John Ralston Saul in Voltaire's bastards and the Unconscious civilization. Given the "strategic threat" Alexander represents to the Ziolobby it's more probable than possible.

Either way thanks so much for such a hopesicle on a cold winter day B.

There has to be more specific information as to the treatment that Palestinians received: In Gaza; in the West Bank and in the rest of Palestine.

For example, your article mentions 50 laws that discriminate against the Palestinians. But the only one mentioned is one "that says explicitly that only Jewish Israelis have the right of self-determination in Israel" But what does that mean?

When American blacks insisted on sitting at the lunch counter, or Rosa Parks insisted on sitting at the front of the bus, it was something that most everybody elsewhere could relate to.

I know there are horrible atrocities against the Palestinians but Americans seem to think it just part of an ongoing war with equally matched sides.

I would like to know more about specific discriminatory treatment in everyday life, such as:
1) Access to medical care and education
2) Treatment under the tax laws
3) Freedom of movement
4) Ability to build or expand houses or business buildings and to buy land
5) Equal treatment in courts
6) What those other 49 laws are and their effect on everyday life.

I would also like to know to what extent the Jews in Palestine have single-payer medical care or higher education and how it compares to what we have in the United States.

Finally I think it is false to say we give something like $3.8 billion/year in aid to Israel. If our wars in Iraq, Libya and Syria were fought mostly to benefit Israel then that's multi-trillions or dollars, which dwarfs the so-called annual aid.

There seems to be some feeling by some people that a powerful editorial might change something, or that it might at least cause the target Israel to react to a credible threat.

Call me a pessimist. Any such change, even any such threat, would depend upon citizens having some actual feeling about the problem as well as some way of changing the situation. I doubt those exist, especially toward peoples regularly described in the press as terrorists (Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs). And most especially against a country (Israel) that has every Congress-person on the payroll.

A highly acclaimed powerful book written by Alexander was published seven years ago: "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness." The book fully described the US society where as one reviewer said: "The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid. In Washington, D.C., our nation’s capitol, it is estimated that three out of four young black men (and nearly all those in the poorest neighborhoods) can expect to serve time in prison."

From a couple of periodical reviews:
>Devastating. . . . Alexander does a fine job of truth-telling, pointing a finger where it rightly should be pointed: at all of us, liberal and conservative, white and black. —Forbes
> Alexander is absolutely right to fight for what she describes as a “much-needed conversation” about the wide-ranging social costs and divisive racial impact of our criminal-justice policies. —Newsweek

Did that book change anything? Is change even possible? Can we expect citizens who can't or don't change a terrible domestic human rights situation to change a similar situation overseas? No.

Israel leverage over Vox in Spain possible via NCRI (MEK) funding recently disclosed. Leader is territorial nationalist looking to end regional authorities and revoke contested gender laws. Am apolitical but knowledge of surroundings is good. Vox politics are an antidote to certain facets of Spanish discontent, but obviously it is needed known if there is hidden influence.

Israel won't meaningfully budge on Palestinian questions , it would spell its political demise . Get used to it, but live with a good conscience and moral as well.

The finely woven tapestry of false narratives is slowly being eaten by truth telling moths thanks to the hubris of the weavers and spreading use of Social Media as an alternative news source more rapidly verifiable than BigLie Media.

Yours is an excellent series of questions. But is acquiescence a morally acceptable alternative? Were Father Berrigan's efforts worthless? MLK's? Those just convicted of leaving jugs of water in the Arizona desert? Those in the streets at the beginning of 2003; in 1999; in 1968 on the Green at Kent State; etc? Part of my daily Twitter roll is Working Class History that documents that ongoing struggle and reminds us of those who died trying to improve our lot in life. Then on this subject, there're the Palestinians who are shot down constantly; should we stand up or stand down for them despite the odds of our making a difference? Did the young German members of the White Rose resistance group throw their lives away? What about personal dignity and integrity, or are those values passé?

Outside the town hall of our small county seat this last Saturday a group gathered to protest Trump's government shutdown, with the @3 dozen people evenly split between elders like me and youth. Were they going to alter the situation in DC? No. But they did serve to remind those passing by their protest that an injustice is taking place that's harming a great number of people. That's sort of like the op/ed this topic's about. If we don't do anything, we meekly forfeit what little power we do have to affect change. Individual lifespans are finite, but other aspects of life have no time limit, as with the ongoing struggle for Justice. If we won't make an effort, who will?

A week or two back, I mentioned Pat Langs piece in which he wondered what Trump's enemies held on him. I thought the most likely thing in which they could get him legally was Israel, but using that card would mean dumping on Israel. They were willing to turn on Saudi Arabia to get at Trump, and with a bit of luck, they will also turn on Israel to get at Trump.

RT and the Jerusalem Post report that the Syrian government threatened to strike Ben Grunion Airport if Israel violates its territory again. They also reiterated their moral and sovereign right to maintain the Golan Heights and stop their annexation. Not sure where this is headed but it looks rash and risky with all of the media pro-Israel and biased....

Meanwhile, what is happening with Venezuela is an international disgrace. The USA via Rubio and Pence are OPENLY calling for regime change and threatening Venezuela with a "response it is not prepared to face" if they strike a "red line" during tomorrow's coup demos. Pence openly met with the opposition figurehead and the pro-US Empire Wikipedia already changed the article on the country to have him listed as President. It's true that Venezuela is an economic disaster case and that Maduro was elected with a very low turnout and boycotts, but he was elected. What's most disturbs me most is how blatant all this is - Chile was done behind the scenes and was denounced rapidly by the entire left globally. With this, silence....

There is also the secret or sealed appeal by an unknown state against a subpoena by Mueller or a court case that has to do with Mueller's so called investigation. Apparently that country is a close ally of the US, which makes it likely to be Israel or UK.

@36 don bacon... i think it is a slow moving thing... it is possible that a very small shift can cause an avalanche... but it is hard to know just what that small event would be to make the avalanche happen... being optimistic is more fun then being pessimistic and i have great experience in the later, so speak from experience! i think these small movements, such as michelle alexanders article in the nyt all eventually add up... maybe this small event has an imperceptible impact, but i think there comes a time when it all adds up to a major shift... the avalanche scenario is what i am looking for..

@hands off venezuela... it is disturbing... one would think these neo-con freaks would know something about history but (made in the usa) hubris is a thing to behold... they are unable to see any of it, as they are too busy living it 24/7...

You guys, though well intentioned, are so bound up in inside politics that I don't see how it will help the Palestinians at all. What does it matter if there is a slightly pro-Palestinian op-ed in the NYT or the WP. Very few people read them. They watch Fox news or CNN.

Israel does fear BDS or they wouldn't be making such a large effort against it. So what Israeli products are you people boycotting? Can you make some suggestions?

I only know of one specific Israeli product - but it could be a significant target. Walmart sells two generic versions of the acid reducer Omeprazole. One is made in Israel and the other in India. They are side by side on the shelf. Probably all over America and other countries. It's a major product and a juicy target. Just trying to be down to earth.

You mentioned Omeprazole. An elderly relative of mine destroyed her gut bacteria with this stuff. The fine print declares you're supposed to take it for only 2 weeks, but who reads that? She had been on it for years and after getting out of the hospital from the inevitable reacton had a really touchy digestive system till the end of her days. After spreading word of this through the family we learned a younger person had also been taking it regularly for way too long. Fortunately she got off the stuff with no apparent damage. Google "Omeprazole" along with "gut bacteria" and you'll find results like this:

PPIs, which include brand names such as Prilosec, Nexium and Prevacid, are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the world, particularly among people with chronic liver disease. They are also relatively inexpensive medications, retailing for approximately $7 for a recommended two-week course of generic, over-the-counter Prilosec (omeprazole). But the frequency of use adds up — one study estimates Americans spend $11 billion on PPIs each year.

To determine the effect of gastric acid suppression on the progression of chronic liver disease, Schnabl’s team looked at mouse models that mimic alcoholic liver disease, NAFLD and NASH in humans. In each, they blocked gastric acid production either by genetic engineering or with a PPI (omeprazole/Prilosec). They sequenced microbe-specific genes collected from the animals’ stool to determine the gut microbiome makeup of each mouse type, with or without blocked gastric acid production.

The researchers found that mice with gastric acid suppression developed alterations in their gut microbiomes. Specifically, they had more Enterococcus species of bacteria. These changes promoted liver inflammation and liver injury, increasing the progression of all three types of liver disease in the mice: alcohol-induced liver disease, NAFLD and NASH.

To confirm it was the increased Enterococcus that exacerbated chronic liver disease, Schnabl’s team also colonized mice with the common gut bacteria Enterococcus faecalis to mimic the overgrowth of intestinal enterococci they had observed following gastric acid suppression. They found that increased Enterococcus alone was sufficient to induce mild steatosis and increase alcohol-induced liver disease in mice.

Millions of people are needlessly and expensively hurting themselves with this drug. It's a shame.

'RT and the Jerusalem Post report that the Syrian government threatened to strike Ben Grunion Airport if Israel violates its territory again. They also reiterated their moral and sovereign right to maintain the Golan Heights and stop their annexation. Not sure where this is headed but it looks rash and risky with all of the media pro-Israel and biased...'

Inveterate media bias cannot be an excuse for Syria to withhold from exercising legitimate sovereign right to defend Syrian territory from unrelenting attacks especially those targeting its international airport in Damascus and elsewhere. Media fealty to Israel is not about to undergo an epiphany but Jaffari's warning is overdue and consistent with the policy of engagement articulated in the E Magnier article I cited in a previous post.[https://ejmagnier.com/2018/12/14/new-rules-of-engagement-between-syria-and-israel-as-russia-changes-its-position/]. No mater what Syria does or does not do will always to filtered through the MSM Israeli prism. IMO, Syria is long overdue in delivering on its warnings.

It is rather significant that this is the first known statement by Syrian UN Representative Dr Jafaari as reported by RT [https://www.rt.com/news/449463-syria-threatens-israel-airport/] which contains an explicit warning of military action in response to the latest Israeli attack. I have met Dr Bashar on three separate occasions and recall that in 2015 he confided to a small group of people at a social gathering that Qatari diplomats had offered him 3 million if he would split with Damascus. I found in him an honorable man of dignity and principle.

Framing his statement and warning as reckless or 'rash' ignores the interminable punishment and humiliation Syria has suffered following years of incurring hundreds of Israeli acts of aggression. Since the October War Syria fought to recapture the Golan Heights in 1973, it has not fired a single shot across the armistice lines. Israel obviously interprets restraint as weakness. Zionist military superiority does not translate to invincibility and if the conniving bully is not confronted in a manner which causes a condign level of retribution, the cumulative damage and casualties he inflicts will only rise.

@ karlof1 | Jan 22, 2019 4:14:35 PM | 22
not trying to pick a fight old man, but the movie you cite – The Matrix – is decidedly Hollywood pro-Zion/Israel. Watch it again. Note the references and symbolism.
As you and I are both “old farts”, and both “historians”, please take note of my reply to Yonatan below.

@ Yonatan | Jan 22, 2019 5:15:29 PM | 31
This is the same Thomas Suarez to which I referred here: January 13, 2019 at 08:25 PM
I recommend his book! Also the video which I linked to, and his invite to address the House of Lords:http://mondoweiss.net/2017/01/terrorism-israeli-state/
I doubt many were in attendance...

"all you care about is money...it's not about money...it's about sending a message." - the joker, the dark knight

despite the initial marxist/communist leanings within israel, how much people outside the occupied territory support israel depends on how much they support capitalism (which makes sense when you view the two as a mutually materialist dichotomy or dialectic). it's the single club they can beat people with - loss of career, loss of exposure, lawsuits - other than historically ignorant allusions to the shoah (which googling "balfour declaration" would dispel).

MLK was quite the anti-capitalist and (other than occasional extramarital dalliances) not much of a materialist. add in his talk of war-obsessed nations reaching "spiritual death" as a result of their bloodlust and it's crystal clear which side he would be on. for the more stubborn and idiotic folks who disagree, i'd simply ask them to explain how white europeans enforcing neo-jim crow laws would be a positive for the selma crowd.

"The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for."

"Celebrity distorts democracy by giving the rich, beautiful, and famous more authority than they deserve."

"Wooing the press is an exercise roughly akin to picnicking with a tiger. You might enjoy the meal, but the tiger always eats last."

Considering the rabid comments which Michelle Alexander's article attracted, it seems reasonable to assume that the NYT wouldn't have published her article unless there were concrete plans in place to instigate a Moral Equivalence 'debate' in the Jew-controlled media.

It'll be 'interesting' to discover which angle of attack The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg deploys, and whether The NYT has been grooming more than one avatar of Thomas L Friedman as substitutes?

One suspects that it'll be harder than they were hoping to make "Israel's" racist oppression sound reasonable or sane.

@ Hoarsewhisperer with the position that, "....the NYT wouldn't have published her article unless there were concrete plans in place to instigate a Moral Equivalence 'debate' in the Jew-controlled media."

I very much agree and expect them to establish an early Overton Window about the issue that will preclude rational discourse.

And where else but from me will you read that this is a proxy battle for continuation of global private finance?

There was one man who completely delegitimized state of Israel and who, under political pressure from Polish Government conducting political purge of Jews, Polish workers party members, was fired from his job as director of hospital and pushed to leave country for Israel and to denounce Polish Citizenship.

He, a Jew, in 1969 refused to immigrate to Israel because as he described it, Israel was apartheid country run by Jewish Nazi collaborators and American Zionists.

This man was Marek Edelman, one of leaders of Warsaw Ghetto uprising in April 1943.

Two newly-elected Democrats in the House, Rhashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar also represent a sea change with regards to open, vociferous criticism of Israel. Omar was just appointed to the Foreign Affairs Committee--that should be interesting. Tlaib was appointed to the powerful Oversight Committee. Let's see if she can help rid the White House of the Zionist Manchurian Candidate.

Your pal, your buddy that you like to defend so much around here, Trump, appointed Kenneth Marcus, a rabid BDS watchdog to the civil rights office of the Education Deparment as a check and slayer of the growing BDS movement in Academia.

Maybe she's being tarred and feathered because she called the new high priest of Zionism, Trump, a MotherFckr. Gee I wish I said it first!

Even the leader of the Women's March is getting painted with the Scarlett letters AS (anti-Semite). Obviously, because, like Black Lives Matter, they are two powerful activist movements sympathetic to Palestinian rights.

Okay, so if you bothered to peruse these articles you'll hopefully understand why I bring up Zionism often in these threads as a force for evil on many fronts in this world.

The powerful wider Lobby didn't waste a minute in destroying Occupy Wall Street, and now they're going after every movement that aligns itself with Palestinian rights and trying to destroy the fledgling careers of two powerful pro-Palestinian female voices in Congress. A pox on Zionism for the evil it does!

and especially in the US, where any criticism of Israel is regularly treated as 'anti-semitism', just as it is here in the UK. I have never recognised the state of Israel, even though my mother's family was exterminated almost in its entirety during WWII. And I don't even know where or when my aunts, uncles, cousins et al vanished, even 70 yrs later. Oft times I'm ashamed to be considered Jewish and see very little difference between Hitler's Nazis and the so-called Jewish state that treats Palestinians as untermensch.

@63 Circe "My guess is either Deutsche Bank, Rosneft or an Israeli Company associated with some oligarch who financed Trump indirectly."

Not Rosneft.

Revealing that the USA is having a legal shit-fight with a company owned by the Russian Government is not likely to "wreak havoc on American foreign policy - possibly alienating U.S. allies, undermining diplomatic efforts, and inviting reciprocal treatment abroad for American agencies"

This write-up is an uncanny coincidence for me as I just watched the four part movie The Lobby (UK) yesterday. As I watched the maneuvers of the israeli's lobby groups and their wilful political accomplices, I kept smiling seeing how much they are putting into an unwinnable war. They seem not to learn from history. Michelle Alexander would be vilified and demonized but I think she will live in peace with herself. The Apartheid-Israel is indeed a horrendous shame.

You guys are something else. I come here because I agree on the need for America to tone down the imperialism. But "Saint Palestine" is a bit much to swallow. It's a tribe fight and the Palestinians have lost many times in a row after initiating the hostilities. There is a cost for that, your feelings got nothing to do with it. Furthermore, if you keep isolating Israel you are more likely to trigger an Ottoman 1915 event. I mean maybe that is what you want? Heighten the contradictions? Reveal the oppressor? I don't know, that seems very callous to me. If you want to help, put pressure on the Gaza leadership to drop the all Jihad all the time strategy so Gaza can be made into a home instead of a barracks and improve the emigration processes for Palestinians to the rest of the World, especially the rest of the OIS world. You need to work on the positive and stop bathing in rhetorical blood cause it feels good. But I know you wont listen, so carry on comrades, carry on.

Furthermore, if you keep isolating Israel you are more likely to trigger an Ottoman 1915 event.

I've been predicting an extermination event for quite a while, but this is the first time I've seen one of the champions for the apartheid Jewish state come right out and say it.

If you want to help, put pressure on the Gaza leadership to drop the all Jihad all the time strategy so Gaza can be made into a home instead of a barracks and improve the emigration processes for Palestinians to the rest of the World, especially the rest of the OIS world.

To show we are True Friends of the two-legged beasts posing as humans, we need to actively assist in the ethnic cleansing.

God's thieves and murderers are hardly bothering to hide their real objectives these days.

'Israel' is occupied Palestinian land. Palestinians are the original occupiers of 'Israel'. Palestinians includes jews, Christians, Druze, & others, but mainly muslims.

The Israeli occupiers are mainly European; it's just colonialism with good branding.

The Palestinians have lost time and again. They are obviously being subjected to a slow genicide. The choice you proffer is genocide with no resistance or genocide with resistance. Your solution is that if the Palestinians resist they will be killed; the Palestinians already know this. They know also they will not get help from the West or the UN. They know all this; the Palestinians will still resist.

Your choice is to murder Palestinians quietly or to murder Palestinians openly. You do not offer justice, peace or survival.

Under international law and any justice/law Palestinians would have the right of return, the right of restitution of all land & property, compensation for the suffering and genocide inflicted. Already you have done your sums and worked out the cheaper option.

I suppose NO would also ask that we shrug off other inconveniences like genocide in Yemen, termination of INF treaty, Yellow Vest protests, false flag attacks, super-high income/wealth inequality and off-shore assets, Jihadi proxy armies, etc.

Arrrgh, spare us your lying-ass, conniving, sanctimonious hasbara bullshet pollution! Tell your coward, Zionist nazi comrades to go rob blind some well-armed people their own size and watch what war really looks like! If the shithole speck you defend insulting our intelligence did this to any other country with same weaponry your hubris-drunk stain on humanity would disappear from the atlas!

If you try to calmly use truth and logic on hasbara, you'll turn them on and they'll come back to stalk you and twist you into a pretzel with a landfill source of inverted logic and Zionist propaganda distraction for hours. Best thing: whip their sorry ass beet red so they don't bother skulking in again to drop another stink 💣. (Okay, I'll be nice: rhetorically, whip, I think🤞. Don't dignify 👹 speak.

It's so refreshing to be able to come out in the open and say what is really on the agenda. Northern Observer has done us all a service in doing just that.
In the realm of deception, double=speak, limited hangout, and all the other devices it always nice when a voice cuts right through the velvet lining and just comes right out and says it. "Furthermore, if you keep isolating Israel you are more likely to trigger an Ottoman 1915 event. I mean maybe that is what you want? "
It's as if to say:'Stop picking on me or else i will openly murder the prisoner!' It's a nice touch to say things like 'Is that what you want' and 'bathing in rhetorical blood feels good'. It really puts the the blame on the opponent. In all likely hood this poster has been called in to relieve entities like zanon who were loosing what little traction they had...that and to get the critics to come further out of the woodwork so they can be tagged. Keep up the good work.
I agree with some of the above posters that they allowance of this piece to grace the pages of the NYT may very well be a limited hangout in an attempt to restore credibility. Another possibility is to create a backlash, then a character assassination of the author so they can say: 'Look she was an anti-semitic kook after all and so is anyone who take a similar tack.' There arent a whole lot of "accidents" these days and I fond it difficult to believe that this is one.

Col Lang says:
I don't write much about the plight of the Palestinians. I gave up on that a long time ago. I have other concerns. The murderous hatred of the Israeli Jews toward the Palestinians is acted out just about every day. Actual violence, demeaning insult, seizure of private property are all the lot of the Palestinians both in the occupied territories and also in Israel proper. "Arab Israelis? Don't make me laugh! No one in Israel believes that Arab citizens of Israel are anything like first class citizens.

Speaking of the difficulties of identifying BDS products here's one service that's easy to identify, but apparently impossible to curtail.

Linh Dinh: . . ."The USA is doubly cursed, moreover, for even at its peak as an empire, it was also a colony, of Israel, so that American soldiers haven’t just been sent all over to kill and die for the American empire, which should not be confused with the American nation, but also for Israel." . .here

It seems the legacy of MLK, still carries some weight.
That Michelle Alexander is very sharp and can write.
Interesting the playing field seems to have tipped a bit recently - even Trump had some words for Isreal.
I only found the article because of link from MoA - won't look at NYT otherwise.
And speaking of great real news/informative sites (not NYT), I liked this:https://consortiumnews.com/2019/01/20/a-call-to-reinvestigate-american-assassinations/
I think special note should also be made of 4 April, 1968.

Whatever happens to Ms. Alexander, the battle's lost for the Zionazis. We have never even had voices before in the MSM. And now not only do we have MSM speaking out, we have pro Palestine politicians. The sum of all fears for the Zionazis is for the average American to be informed about the Zionist atrocity. It is not just loosing the risk of loosing funding. America's history shows that we're an extremely vengeful people. Isra Hell's going to pay back every bloody $ they swindled from us!

@32 Long/complex topic. Lawyer group from South African gov't + British lawyers did comprehensive study onsite '07-'09, published as "Beyond Occupation" [Tilley]. Bureaucratese, TLDR. Key points are summarized by ICAHD-USA, best reprinted at Is Israel An Apartheid State? Rhetoric or Reality? (pictures), also here (no pics, tidy). Next to last section has a sampler of amusing laws, such as:

Military Order #58: makes land transactions immune to review so long as the transaction was carried out by an Israeli “acting in good faith".

Military Order #811 and #847: allows Jews to purchase land from unwilling Palestinian sellers by using a “power of attorney".

Military Order #58, Article 5: says any land transaction will not be voided even if it is proved the transaction was invalid. Aaand:

Military Order #25: forbids public inspection of land transactions.

Neat & tidy. So it's all perfectly legal, no worries, eh?.

Material was largely copied and summarized into a United Nations report, 2017. U.S. Constitution used to guarantee freedom of press. How quaint! Zionist survival depends on repressing the press, so Israel leaned on the U.S. to lean on the U.N.; department chair forced to resign, report retracted and deep-sixed. U.S. now adopting Israeli morals of overt pressrepression.

If we take a long term look at the history of Israel we can see that the idea of a 'homeland' in Palestine was not really an end in itself but a way of consolidating Judaic power. But now Israel is more of a hindrance than help to the big-Jews. It's getting in the way of globalism. The Rothschilds' Economist struggled mightily against Trump in favor of the nuclear deal with Iran. Soros is at loggerheads with Netanyahu. For the big-Jews it's time to circle the wagons and defend their deepest love. It's not Israel or even the Jewish people. It's money (and power) beyond the dreams of avarice. These big-Jews are the people that the powers behind the New York Times identify with. And what could be better for that newspaper than to be identified with a pricipled stand and the repugnance of a new generation including Jews with the unrelenting inhumanity of Israel that is getting ever harder to hide.

The documentary "The Lobby USA" (mentioned in the article) is very much worth the time to watch. Just be sure to watch it on an empty stomach because your gag reflex may be triggered by the time you've viewed so much organized ethical corruption in defense and support of ongoing Israeli apartheid and violence.

This isn't a bump in the road or even a stone upon it. Happy to hear it, and I agree--ever since I published my first poem (my medium) about this tragedy in 1972. A long time. The NYT has published 1000's of pages in that same time. No movement, in fact more confiscatory regression. This instance is molecular and unremarkable.

@98 No, certainly not, they publish thousands of articles per week and this one will never be seen by most people. Just like CNN and Yemen. Even if you "do your due" by covering it once it will be forgotten because it isn't the "lead story" repeated over and over all day long in the vein of Russia-Gate and anti-Assad "chemical" stories.

Former Israeli Defense Forces chief turned political candidate Benny Gantz is touting the body count he racked up leading Operation Protective Edge with a campaign that boasts about bombing parts of Gaza “back to the Stone Age.”
Gantz has released a series of campaign ads for his “Hosen Le Yisrael” (Israel Resilience) party, glorifying the operation he oversaw as IDF commander as he attempts to replace Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister in April’s election.
“Parts of Gaza were returned to the stone ages,” one clip boasts over footage of the bombed-out shells of Palestinian buildings. As chief of general staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, Gantz led the offensive that bombarded Gaza for 51 days, killing – as the ad boasts – “1,364 terrorists” and bringing “3.5 years of quiet.”

The second ad in the series shows a running tally of deaths over scenes of Palestinian funerals, and a third shows the targeted assassination of a Hamas leader whose car explodes in a ball of flame.